Asteroids are small rocky bodies orbiting around the Sun, which are small in size and mass compared with major planets in the solar system. Observing asteroids from Earth is not enough to understand specific details about them. This is why sending probes to asteroids and return sample from them are gaining increasing attention around the world.

The exploration of asteroids is of great significance for studying the formation and evolution of the solar system, the origin of life, asteroid defense, and the exploitation of space resources. The continuous development of aerospace technology led to new ways of asteroid exploration: gradually shifting from flyby and orbiting to close-proximity detection methods, such as landing, surveying their interior with radar, sampling, sample return, and touring on the surface of an asteroid.

Spacecraft motions around an asteroid, landing on it, sampling, taking off, or traveling on its surface, are much different from spacecraft actions about a major planet in the solar system. This is because of its much smaller gravity, fast rotation, and its very irregular shape.

This special issue is devoted to key technologies in asteroid exploration. High-quality technical papers reporting on original theoretical and experimental results on the performance evaluation are solicited. Of particular interest is the following, but not limited to, a list of principal topics:

• Orbital motion around an asteroid
• Attitude dynamics of a probe around an asteroid
• Asteroid gravity
• Navigation by the camera, radar, and the integration of sensors
• Control of orbit and attitude around an asteroid for a probe
• Path planning and traversing methods on asteroid surfaces
• Binary or multi-asteroid system targets
• Mission analysis such as mapping coverage
• Trajectory optimization for multiple-target mission
• Cometary exploration
• Manned asteroid exploration mission
• Asteroid kinetic impact mission
• Mapping techniques of asteroid topography, geology, and morphology
• Mapping and instruments for in situ resource utilization on asteroids

The experts in the field are invited to submit their high-quality and original works for evaluation in the special issue. Both theoretical and simulation results are of interest. Our objective is to address different research problems regarding asteroid exploration.

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Frontiers in Space Technologies

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